Doppelgangers

The past few weeks of the CW’s hit show The Vampire Diaries have been nothing short of amazing. In every episode I’ve gasped, I’ve laughed and I’ve had my heart strings pulled....vigorously. 

Tonight’s episode was no exception. 

“Rose” dealt with the aftermath of Elena’s kidnapping after the Katherine take down by Team Awesome (Jeremy, Bonnie, Stefan, Damon and Caroline) at the Masquerade Ball.

Tonight I pulled a mini marathon of sorts and got all caught up on our favorite citizens of Mystic falls and boy, am I glad I did!!! This show really knows how to bring it’s ‘A’ game. Although none of the episodes have yet lived up to the phenomenal season premiere, ‘The Return,’ they’ve come pretty darn close.

So for those playing catch up like I did, here’s a quick run down of what’s been going down:

- Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Stefan (Paul Wesley) broke up re: Katherine hurting Jenna (see below)

- Damon (Ian Somerhalder) killed Mason Lockwood (Goodbye Taylor Kinney, you are really hot!)

- Tyler (Michael Trevino) is now a werewolf

- Katherine is locked in the tomb with the moonstone

- Jenna (Sara Canning) is laid out on the couch. Katherine compelled her to almost commit suicide.

- Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) has gone all pro-active on stomping out the evil in town and is all of a sudden very attractive.

Now, onto tonight’s episode, Rose (Lauren Cohan) and Trevor are two 500-year-old vampires who kidnap Elena as bait for ‘The Originals’. They want to make up for Trevor's mistake in trusting Katerina ‘Katherine’ Petrova long ago and not have to run anymore. Since Elena is the Petrova Doppelganger, she is apparently the key to reversing the Aztec curse of the sun and the moon (you know, the one that says vamps can’t come out in the sun, and wolves can only come out at the full moon!). If her blood is spilled, then the curse will be reversed. (off topic side note: I can’t say that and not think of the Red Sox.) We also learned that the moonstone everyone has been looking for all season is what binds this curse. Elijah (Daniel Gillies) a vamp who works with/for ‘The Originals’ comes to strike a deal with Rose and Trevor but the Salvatore boys come in and save the day to get Elena back. After Elijah kills Trevor, Damon kills him (or so we think….he pulls the stake out of his stomach towards the very end of the episode). Rose comes back at the end of the episode to warn Stefan that 'The originals' quest for Elena is far from over and offers her help. ‘The originals’ are doing their work for Claus.

In other story lines....

At the whim of Damon, Caroline (Candice Accola) tries unsuccessfully to convince Tyler that she doesn’t know his secret. Luckily it doesn’t work and the two start to bond. I really enjoy these two together. They play well off of each other and both characters have come so far since we first met them. Fingers crossed things stay that way. I’m really kind of hoping they can all bond and Tyler can become part of this group they have going on but you know that the sh*t’s going to hit the fan once he finds out Damon killed his uncle.

Bonnie (Katerina Graham) and Jeremy spent the episode together as well and let’s just say I am totally Team Beremy!! These two have great chemistry together and I’m loving Jeremy’s new gung-ho protective attitude. I really hope they make them a couple. We also learn that Bonnie’s powers are getting even stronger but they can sometimes drain her out.

In what was the most heartbreaking and best scene of the night, Damon pours his heart out to Elena telling her “I love you and it’s because I love you that I can’t be selfish with you.” He tells her he doesn’t deserve her and then says “I wish you didn’t have to forget this but you do.”  For me, this was like I was back in High School watching the ‘I will remember you’ episode of Angel all over again. The Powers that Be took away the day Angel was human and Buffy would never know what it was like to eat peanut butter in bed with her boyfriend.

God, it was a great scene. Ian Somerhalder plays vulnerable real well and always finds a way to make me feel for Damon, despite the sometimes crap things the character does. I love it.

And so that’s the gist of it then..... Another fantastic episode of a consistently awesome show….If you’re not watching the Vampire Diaries…you should be!!!

If not for the great story lines and phenomenal acting then at the very least for the extreme hotness of the cast!

Quips of the night:

- “Can we not do the whole road trip bonding thing? The cliché of it all makes me itch” – Damon

- “The elephant in the room let’s out a mighty roar” – Damon

- “I can’t think of a better reason to die” – Stefan

As always check out the CW.com  for full episodes, videos, etc. When Zap2it and EW post their recaps I’ll link them over.